Ahmad Fouad
After his eight years in office as a governor of the most populous state and, also the nation’s Center of Commerce and West Africa at large.During his tenure the Kano has witnessed unprecedented infrastructural development and he was only a governor who completed all the abandoned projects of the successors administration from shekaru’s to kwankwaso administration abandons projects across the state.
As part of his responsibility as the chief security officer of the state his administration was able to maintain law and order across the state which made the state enjoying peace with either no report of insecurity or kidnapping.
In spite of the North West Geopolitical zone having experienced unpleasant insecurity and other related crimes challenges which makes insecurity a worrisome to almost five states of the zone and epicenter of insecurity in the country.
Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje became National Chairman of the Governing Ruling Party. As it appears at the end of his tenure not keen in joining the ranks of our going governors of the ruling party desperation to be part of president Tinubu led cabinets. From his body language it seems like want to have a deserving rest at the end of his tenure by embarking on deserving sabbatical leave.
How and why he became ruling party chairman.In August last year, the National Executive Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) confirmed the former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, as the national chairman of the party. Following the resignation of Abdullahi Adamu and Omisore, last month, resigned as the national chairman. God’s destiny made him the National Chairman of the ruling party the second most important position after Mr president without lobbying for it.
The National Working Committee supported Mr. President’s nomination of the current national chairman being a Democrat would be able to provide the needed leadership to resolve most of the challenges facing the party. His wealth of experience will definitely help APC to return to its founding vision and were strengthened by his background as a and his records as Governor of Kano State.
For the benefit of hindsight there is not a single politician in the country who suffered political prosecution like the current national chairman of the governing ruling party.
NNPP grand vendetta to Ganduje is seen uncivilized and other his detractors realize their antecedents towards him would not work as the NWC of the party and Mr president reaffirms they support in his leadership of the governing ruling party.
AKY led government aimed to pull him down at all cost, perceived as vendetta and a fall-out of the Ganduje-Kwankwaso feud. In May last year when the New Nigeria People’s Party’s (NNPP) came, demolished people’s properties as it’s part of Ganduje’s legacies.
For the first time a state governor took his predecessor, family to court over the misappropriation of public funds since this republic, which began in 1999. Dr Ganduje’s family was also embroiled in litigations with the Kano State government, after the latter dragged the family to court over corruption related issues.
Although the rivalry between Dr Ganduje and his erstwhile political associate, Rabiu Kwankwaso spilled over to the last election won by Kwankwaso’s NNPP, the witch-hunt by Governor Abba Yusuf administration targeting Ganduje, anything and everybody around him has continued unabated. Now, there are allegations that the government is not just undermining Ganduje but sponsoring some of these cases against him. Despite the potshots thrown at him, Ganduje has remained unfazed, and his wife has ignored threats from the state government to drag her to the mud or court of public opinion despite the embarrassment caused to them.
As a political observer in the nation’s political space he became vulnerable to political conspiracies from home front by his political foes. Ganduje’s visible and invisible foes use the fake party official from his ward to suspend him when the genuine party officials in his ward distance themselves. The ward party rebels were obviously acting out a script, judging by the antecedents of such dramas in the nation’s political space.
State party, chairman Abdullahi Abbas, dismissed the suspension as invalid, null and void. Those who called themselves the authentic leadership of the party in the ward also denounced Magwanjo as an impostor and affirmed the continued membership of Mr Ganduje and their confidence in his leadership.
So who wrote the script for the fake ward party officials seeking to suspend Ganduje? Who sponsor unsubstantiated court case against his leadership? Why NNPP-led state government of orchestrating the drama.
It may be recalled similar antecedents was used by political foes of the former National chairmen Oshiomhole of the APC in 2020 choice his suspension at the ward level which had led to the removal coupling with court case against him.
While national chairman battle is still raging at home front perfected by NNPP led government. They went ahead to use some disgruntled members of the party who initiated the legal action at the FCT High Court of Justice has joined the fray in dragging the APC chairman to court for “illegal stay in office.Based their grouse on a zonal arrangement “agreed” to at their 2022 national convention that ceded the national chairmanship position to the North-Central. Ganduje is from the North-West.
However, the APC state chairman, Mr Abbas, accused the NNPP-led state government of orchestrating the drama.
“We have evidence of meetings between the State Government officials and those that suspended the National Chairman, and the state working committee has agreed to sanction them for six months and they stand suspended,”
Why are the governor, Abba Yusuf, and his political godfather, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who are both of the NNPP, after Ganduje?
Ganduje has assured his supporters that the president is ‘solidly’ behind him in the ongoing drama.He asked me to plead with you (supporters) and that their (Kano government) target to remove me as APC chairman will fail and I will remain as the chairman.I met the President (Bola Tinubu) and I informed him what happened in Kano (the suspension) was fabricated and he understood it.
At this point only time will tell if Mr president will reciprocate Ganduje’s decision to stood for Tinubu when several northern politicians and governors worked against him in the buildup to the 2023 general election.
It was Dr Ganduje and former Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State were the first APC governors in Northern Nigeria to openly support Mr Tinunu’s presidential ambition and were instrumental in persuading their governor colleagues on power rotation to the south, which made it easier for Mr Tinubu to pick the APC ticket and become president.
His bond with Mr president is believed to have began before the APC primaries. In March 2021, the then Kano state Executive Governor hosted Mr Tinubu’s 12th birthday colloquium in conoration Hall at the state House kano.
A question need an answer if Mr president Can stand for Gabduje’s head. Time will tell, in spite In politics there is no permanent friend but permanent interest. I am sure Mr president will stand by Abdullahi Ganduje, as the national chairman of the party. Let visible and invisible foes of Ganduje leave him alone to continue serving the party as some of the foes are not in the same party with him. While some disgruntled members of the party who initiated the legal action at the FCT High Court of Justice.
Fouad write in from Katsina can be reach at ahmadfouad78@gmail.com
